Kalamazoo Dentist Discusses Causes of Tooth Discoloration

Are Your Teeth Yellowing?

Worried about what’s causing your smile to turn yellow? You’re not alone, as many Kalamazoo, MI area residents are wondering what they can do to prevent tooth discoloration and what type of teeth whitening may be recommended. Everyone wants a beautiful smile and having sparkling white teeth will definitely help boost your self esteem. In this post we wanted to outline some of the things that can cause your teeth to turn yellow, and what you can do to both prevent and reverse discoloration.

Causes & Prevention

Discoloration can most often times be prevented by watching what you eat and drink, as well as quitting any tobacco consumption. Below is a list of items to consider limiting or omitting from your daily intake. There are also things you can do to help prevent staining your teeth, should you choose to drink coffee or consumables that can leave discoloration.

Smoking & Using Tobacco

Both smoking and chewing (smokeless) tobacco can cause horrible stains on your teeth, and can lead to worse diseases such as halitosis, gingivitis or periodontitis, tooth loss and oral (& other) cancers. If you do choose to consume tobacco products, be sure to talk to your dentist about regular oral cancer screenings. If you’re looking to quit, your dentist can also provide you with a list of resources to help you. There are also many free resources such as Smokefree.gov that provide assistance in helping you quit.

Coffee

Everyone loves their morning cup of joe. But most often your coffee can lead to teeth discoloration that we are trying to prevent in the first place. If you’re like everyone else on the planet who wants to enjoy their morning cup, there are things you can do to minimize staining. If you don’t mind cold coffee, drinking joe through a straw can help prevent exposure to the outer enamel of your teeth. If you’re in a workplace with easy access to restrooms, you can always bring a toothbrush into the office for a quick brushing after your cup of coffee. The longer the coffee sits on the tooth, the more it can penetrate the tooth causing discoloration.

Dark Soda, Wine & Other Dark Beverages

As with coffee, other dark beverages that we might not often associate with tooth discoloration can actually be quite damaging to your pearly whites. Again, if you choose to consume these types of beverages, limiting intake, drinking them through a straw when possible, and routine brushing can cut down on the amount of discoloration. And don’t forget to floss!

Brushing Practices

Probably one of the most common reasons for yellowed teeth is the most simple thing to overlook. Brushing your teeth regularly to remove plaque buildup is still the best thing you can do at home to prevent yellowing and tooth decay. Accompanied with regular flossing, brushing your teeth a minimum of two times a day is absolutely necessary to help remove tartar and plaque buildup. But if you consume coffee and other dark liquids regularly, we would recommend accompanying those habits with a good brushing and flossing afterwards whenever possible.

Teeth Whitening

When considering what to do about removing stains from your teeth, there a few options when it comes to teeth whitening solutions. We can do an in office power bleaching which is the safest form of teeth whitening or “bleaching” which is done in office by our dental staff. There are also options available for “at-home” teeth whiting, which may be the less expensive route in the long run if you like to consume many of the darker liquids mentioned above.

For more information on teeth whitening options, please see our page here. Please feel free to contact the Lindenwoods Dental team any time about our services!